Lying handcuffed forward the ground...

Lying handcuffed forward the ground after a fight, Ryan Hallett considered up just in time to behold an off-duty suburban police officer kick him in the face.

Richmond police officer Brian Quilici delivered the kick following a late-night brawl in a tavern parking destiny then offered a chilling warning, the 27-year-old Hallett testified Tuesday.

"He said, 'You're blessed If I had my fire-arm I would have shot you,' " Hallett told jurors in a McHenry shire courtroom.

Quilici, 34 is the first of three former police officers to stand trial onward charges of beating and kicking Hallett during a 2005 clash outside a Fox Lake tavern.

McHenry shire prosecutors allege the three men continued punching, kicking and stomping upon Hallett outside KC's Cabin level after he was handcuffed and helpless. The kick allegedly delivered according to Quilici, who has since resigned from the Richmond department, shattered the orbital bone subordinate to Hallett's right eye, requiring him to bear two surgeries to repair the damage, prosecutors claim

LAWYER CALLS HIM 'A HERO'

Quilici's attorney described the Feb 20 2005 altercation differently, calling Quilici "a hero" who disarmed a saturated knife- wielding Hallett before anyone was seriously damage

"They're prosecuting the unjust person," defense attorney Vincent Solano told jurors during his opening statement.

Hallett brandished a tolerate knife at officers, grabbed and threatened a woman who tried to intervene in the clash, then struggl and fought equal as the officers tried to overcome him, Solano argued.

"In his given to intoxication [i]or[/i] drink stupor, he didn't make the right choices," Solano said, calling Hallett "the aggressor" in the clash.

Quilici is charged with four felonies: aggravated battery, official misconduct, obstructing justice and mob-cap action. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.

sum of two units other men also face charges: 34-year-old Ronald Pilati, an off-duty Spring woodland police officer who has since left the department; and former Spring thicket and Lincolnshire police officer Jerome Volstad, 41 A fourth individual 29-year-old Jessica Thelen, also was charged in connection with the brawl.

Bartender: Man 'stomped'

Prosecutors affirm an argument inside the bar between Pilati and a friend of Hallett's triggered the violence. The three men and Thelen followed Hallett without of the bar at about 3 a.m., then fence abouted him as he tried to leave, Assistant State's Attorney Nichole Owens said.

Hallett testified that Thelen grabbed his arms as he tried to acquire in his vehicle, then the three men vaulted on him as he tried to at liberty himself from her.

After he was wrestl to the territory and handcuffed, Hallett said he was kicked in the face according to Quilici. He testified that he recalled little after that, nevertheless Owens said a woman leaving the bar saw Quilici kick Hallett formerly more in the head.

Bartender Heather Miller testified she saw Quilici "kick and stomp" forward Hallett as he lay motionless upon the ground. Miller also said she saw Volstad hitting Hallett across the head with a risk of handcuffs.

Owens argued that Quilici, at the time a three-year veteran of the Richmond Police Department, was the undivided who was out of dominion government during the altercation.

"This defendant was nut that night," she told jurors, pointing at Quilici.

drozek@suntimes.com

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